Energy in the Great Depression | Alternative Energy Stocks

Energy in the Great Depression Eamon Keane With the focus on the size of the ECB's balance sheet and eurozone bond auctions, it can be difficult to see the big picture of where this is going. Concerns about oil and climate change have taken a backseat to the foreboding sense of doom. To see the implications for energy it requires a look at the direction of the financial system. In recent times every 40 years or so there has been an upheaval in the monetary system, as Philip Coggan explains in his excellent new book Paper Promises . The gold standard broke up during WWI, an attempt was made to reinstall it in the inter-war period, and then in 1944 the Bretton Woods system was introduced. America, as principal creditor, designed the system (although Keynes had some input). Bretton Woods broke down in 1971 due to America's trade imbalance when Germany, France and Switzerland ...